rihanna greatest hits chris brown album cover

Often the presumption with Chris is that this is the case and that he’s suffered the greater loss (the “bitch, I loved you!” approach). Women are clearly capable of being the dickhead in a breakup. The album instead opts mostly for straight R&B and pop from a mixed bag of producers (NicNac, Danja, Anonymous), and it’s either snappy club tracks or the type of depressive, moping records currently resonating with Eeyore’s favorite millennials. Those international club anthems seem part of his DNA now, but rather than the vexing rule (like on Fortune) they’re the welcome exception on X and feel less forced-”Body Shots” features a weird-cool clash of vocal spasms and synths. You’re forced to love it, conditionally.Ĭhris has a knack for making memorable songs on forgettable albums (“Don’t Wake Me Up” and “Turn Up The Music” on 2012’s Fortune) For a while, he coasted with elliptical-friendly Euro R&B like “Forever,” “Don’t Wake Me Up” and “Yeah 3X,” all great guilty pleasures. Here, in a matter of a few bars, Chris manages to flaunt new money (“Just got rich”), steal another man’s girl (“Took a broke nigga bitch”) and consider upgrading a groupie’s status before deciding against it because of her lack of coins. The macho posturing is the most flagrant on his groupie takedown “Loyal,” an obnoxious NicNac production and slow-building sleeper hit that you still hear everywhere.

I’m not trying to be a dog, none of that… I just care too much.” Which is funny because in his music lately, he’s been prone to player behavior, as if that’s where he enjoys the freedom of being the angry bad guy without consequence.

In it, he considered whether it’s possible to unconditionally love two women at once and said, “I don’t wanna hurt either or. A homemade video titled “The Real Chris Brown” that popped up in 2012, showed Chris confessing. The two greatest loves of Brown’s 25-year-old life (Rihanna and Karrueche) have wreaked havoc on his psyche. He’s a mess of ego, and that frustrating emotional clutter is what makes this album a compelling listen.

He tries to take blame, but it’s overshadowed by bravado. He sort of does but gets stuck looking back. Chris attempts to move forward and find new love. Mostly, though, the album dwells on the initial post-breakup aftershock, purging and the holding-on part, versus the smart introspection that comes later.

Playing off this theme of loss and Ex-Factors, X explores the fallout of a failed relationship in all its phases-the fresh grief, self-pity parties, real partying and fake forgetting.

Rihanna greatest hits chris brown album cover